


you’ve stolen my heart but you can keep it

by floumboyant



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, No Smut, just backstory and some cuteness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-23 23:26:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13200831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floumboyant/pseuds/floumboyant
Summary: This is basically just a timeline of what I thought could be Ann and Ryuji’s past leading up to the events of Persona 5 while also implementing an actual relationship growing between them throughout the game. It’s just something very quick and simple I wrote in the notes on my phone one day, so I thought, why the heck not? And here I am. Yay. P.S. I will admit that I think I wrote Shiho slightly out of character at the beginning. Oops.





	you’ve stolen my heart but you can keep it

It was halfway through middle school when Ann Takamaki transferred to Japan. She was originally from America, and it was a big difference.

“Do you see her hair?” someone whispered as she walked by, making her way to her assigned seat that had a nameplate on it specifically for her. 

“Blonde... where is she even from?” A girl laughed, glancing back and forth between Ann and her friend. 

Ann sat down in her seat and scrunched down, pulling her uniform jacket in tighter to somehow make herself hidden from the rest of her class.

“Hi... what’s your name?” A soft spoken girl said from behind her, leaning forward so she could hear and gently pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m Shiho Suzui, but you can just go ahead and call me Shiho. I don’t mind.”

“Uh... hello, Shiho-chan,” Ann said. “I’m Ann Takamaki.” 

“Ann! You don’t have to use honorifics!” Shiho giggled. “Want to be my friend?” 

“Sure,” Ann said with a smile. Maybe this school wouldn’t be so bad. 

“Blonde!” A loud boy yelled, a wide smile appearing on his face as he plopped down in the seat next to her with a thud. 

Ann just stared at him, starting to feel self conscious again and sinking down in her seat. 

“Nice hair. Hoooot,” he told her excitedly meaning it as a compliment, but it actually came out in a taunting tone instead. 

Ann flinched and looked away, staring out the window and blowing her hair out of her face.

“Shut up, Sakamoto-kun!” Shiho yelled, causing the whole classroom to go quiet. She was known as a shy girl, but when someone hurt her friends, she would not stand for it. 

Sakamoto rose his eyebrows, shocked at her sudden burst of anger. “Woah, woah, I didn’t mean-“ he started to say, holding his hands up defensively before Shiho cut him off.

“Don’t! Just leave her alone,” Shiho said quickly, her face turning red from the attention of the class. 

“Okay, okay...” the boy mumbled, letting out a sigh and turning to the front of the class as the teacher walked in. 

Shiho let out a sigh of relief and smiled, only to see Ann turning around to smile back at her.

“Thank you,” Ann whispered, before turning to pay attention to the teacher. 

The next day the boy walked in and sat next to Ann with a head full of blond hair. Her and Shiho looked over at him in shock. 

“I like your hair so much that I thought I’d get some of it myself! Now they’ll make fun of me instead, and you won’t have to be alone!” he exclaimed, smiling brightly and tugging some of his hair to emphasize it. “I’m Ryuji Sakamoto! It’s nice to meet ya, Ann!” 

“D-Did she say you could call her Ann?” Shiho said in defense, not understanding why this boy was sporting blond hair. Was he mocking her?

“Shiho, it’s okay,” Ann said softly before turning over to Ryuji with a sweet smile. “I’m Ann Takamaki. It’s nice to meet you, Ryuji.” 

From that day forward, the three of them became inseparable, especially Ann and Ryuji. They were always giggling in class and passing notes, and they always sat together at lunch. 

“Ryuuuji,” Ann giggled, trying to shove him away from her as he repeatedly kept tickling her sides. “Stop it!” 

It was near the end of their last year of middle school, and Shiho was absent that day because she was sick. Ann and Ryuji were sitting on a bench in the courtyard during lunch. 

Ann let out small breaths of laughter as Ryuji stopped tickling her, leaning back on the back rest of the bench and holding her stomach. “You’re so mean.” 

Ryuji smiled and stuck his tongue out, stretching his legs out for a brief moment before resting his elbows against the bench. “Can you believe we’re about to be in high school?”

Ann wiped a few stray tears from laughter away from her cheeks and sniffled, letting out one more deep breath. “Oh, yeah... That is right. It’s crazy.” 

“I know! Imagine how many hot chicks are gonna be at Shujin Academy!” Ryuji exclaimed, looking up at the sky in awe. 

“Yeah...” Ann mumbled, rolling her eyes. Sometimes she forgot that Ryuji was just like all the other guys. “No.” 

“Whaaat?” Ryuji stretched, reaching his finger out to poke his friend’s cheek. “You jealous?” 

“No!” Ann shouted defensively, crossing her arms over her chest and scooting away from him so his finger would leave her cheek. “Don’t even say that.” 

Ryuji laughed and rested his hand in between them on the bench. It was quiet for a moment before he broke the silence. 

“We’ll stay friends, right?” he asked without looking at her. 

“What do you mean? Of course!”

“Me, you, and Shiho? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure!” Ann said with a nod. “What could separate us three?” 

“I dunno,” Ryuji breathed out, finally looking over to her and holding out his pinky. “Promise?” 

“Promise,” Ann told him, interlocking her pinky with his. 

But neither of them kept the promise. 

When they got in high school, they were no longer in the same class, and both of them became interested in different things. Ann started modeling, and Ryuji joined the track team. They were so separated and busy during and after school that they became distant from each other. They tried to keep in touch through text at first, but that didn’t really last. 

One day, Ann was staying after school for a study session in the library and as she was about to leave, she saw Ryuji storming through the hallways. She slid behind a corner and watched him slam his fist into a locker and let out a yell of fury. 

“Effin’ Kamoshida!” 

Heavy breaths were escaping from his lips, and he rested his forehead against one of the lockers, cursing incoherently. 

“Ryuji?” Ann questioned, tilting her head to the side and slowly approaching him as she held her textbooks close to her chest. “Are you okay?”

Ryuji flinched and turned around, the anger not leaving his face for even a second. “Go away, Takamaki. Not now.” 

“But-“ Ann started to say. 

“No! Leave me alone!” he snapped, clenching his fists as his face turned a crimson red. 

Ann flinched and stepped back before quickly turning and running off. All she could think about for the rest of the night was the look on his face as he yelled at her and the fact that he called her Takamaki instead of Ann. 

The two of them never spoke again after that, but Ann watched him from afar all the time. It seemed like by the end of the year he had turned into a ball of anger. He started cursing and yelling at people more than he ever had before. 

Then one day, he was limping, and the track team had disappeared. Ann wanted to reach out to him. She wanted to help.

But then she remembered what happened last time and just continued to watch. 

By the time their second year of high school started, Ann stopped thinking about Ryuji. She left him to live in his fury. That was when he started watching her. All of the rumors about Ann and Kamoshida made him want to vomit. When she wasn’t around, he would sometimes beat up the people that spoke about it. He ended up being thought of as a delinquent by the school.

Then one day, a new guy named Akira with a criminal record came to the school, and the Phantom Thieves were born. They were going to get rid of Kamoshida for good, no matter what it took. 

“Sakamoto!” Ann yelled, stomping after him in the hallway. “Let. Me. Help.” 

“Takamaki, stop it!” Ryuji groaned, spinning on his heel to look at her as he spoke. “Stay out of this! It’s none of your business!” 

“Yes, it is! Shiho’s life was almost lost because of that scumbag!” she shrieked, her fists clenching at her sides and tears forming in her eyes. “You have no idea how much of my business this truly is, Sakamoto!” 

“I’m sorry, Takamaki,” Ryuji told her, his eyes softening for just a moment before he returned to his firm stance. “Just leave it alone. We’ll handle it. Go home.” 

“No!” she yelled, but Ryuji was already walking away. She continued to beg him as he walked down the hallway, but he wouldn’t listen to a word. “Please.”

Ryuji just didn’t want Ann to get hurt. He would make her hate him if he had to; he kind of felt like she already did anyways. He knew how important it was to her, but he also knew how dangerous the Metaverse was. The first time she was accidentally pulled into the Palace, he felt like his heart was sinking. He had to throw her out immediately. 

But she always found her way back and almost got herself killed. He was so angry in that moment. At both Ann and Kamoshida. 

When she awoke to her Persona, he knew that she was going to stay with them. There was no way that she was turning back, and he knew that. So he gave up and let her stay. There was nothing else he could do, even though he wanted desperately to shield her from all the bad of the world. 

After securing the route to the treasure, Ann and Ryuji rode the train home together and then Ryuji walked her home. 

“Why are you doing this?” Ann asked, her face red as she looked away from him. 

“I dunno,” he replied honestly. “Just felt like it, I guess. I know how tough it’s been with the whole... Kamoshida thing.” 

“I hate him,” she said hoarsely, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. 

“I know,” Ryuji said with a nod, stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking straight ahead as he walked. “He’s targeted all of us. Me, you... Shiho. What an asshole.” 

“Yeah,” she mumbled. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“H-Huh?” Ann blurted out, looking over at him in shock. “What for?” 

“Becoming distant. Becoming a dick,” Ryuji explained, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly and shrugging. “I could have been there for you this whole time.” 

“I, uh... I had Shiho,” Ann told him quickly. “It’s fine.” 

“You could have had me too. Two is better than one.”

“Yeah, but...”

“No buts. It’s my fault,” he told her, staring at the ground and kicking a rock. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she said quietly, fumbling with her fingers awkwardly.

They continued to walk on in silence, and Ryuji looked over at her. The moonlight was shining against the side of her face, making her skin illuminate more than it usually did. He looked down to see her hands and couldn’t help himself. 

He pulled one of his hands out of his pocket and slowly reached over, gently intwining his fingers with hers. Ann tensed up in response, looking up at him to see his face a deep shade of red and his eyes avoiding contact with hers. 

She smiled and looked away, biting her lip and giving his hand a squeeze. 

“We’ll kick Kamoshida’s ass, okay?” Ryuji whispered, gently stroking the top of her hand with his thumb. 

“Okay.” 

That was the first time the two of them had felt anything other than friendship for each other. It didn’t expand into much more at first. There were subtle touches between the two of them, and they were clearly closer than any of the other Phantom Thieves members, but a relationship hadn’t blossomed. 

Ryuji started to walk her home every time they returned from a Palace or Mementos because he knew that she was the most vulnerable at that time. They were all so tired, and he wanted to make sure she was safe. 

They held hands all the time while they were alone together, and they went to watch movies together too. They started hanging out as normal friends again, but acted a little closer than they did before. And every weekend, they visited Shiho together. Ryuji never complained. The trio was back together again. 

It was at that stage for what seemed like forever until Ryuji almost lost his life. 

“I still can’t believe you did that,” Ann mumbled, walking up into Ryuji’s bedroom with him and slumping against the edge of his bed on the floor. “I’m pissed.” 

“Ann, come on... You’ve been talking about this for weeks,” he groaned, sitting down next to her. “I’m okay.”

“I know you’re okay!” she snapped. “That doesn’t mean you’re not an idiot! How could you even think of doing that to me?”

Ryuji was taken aback for a moment and rose his eyebrow. “To you?” 

He remembered seeing the worry in her eyes as she shouted his name in Shido’s palace, and he couldn’t help but smile as he dangled there. If he had to die, that wasn’t a terrible way. Knowing that Ann and the others cared about him was enough to satisfy him. Plus, he had always wanted to be a hero like Akira. Ryuji always felt like he would never live up to his best friend, but now he felt like he had proven himself. He would do it again without hesitation. 

“Oh, I... I mean, to us,” she said, looking down at the ground and pulling her knees up to her chest. “You know... the Phantom Thieves.” 

“Yeah, right,” Ryuji teased with a smile, reaching over to tug on her ponytail gently. “You would die without me.” 

Ann scoffed and shook her head, smacking his hand away from her hair. “I would be perfectly fine. You’re the one who would end up failing all of your classes without my help.” 

“Hey!” Ryuji yelled, his face turning red. “I would be fine.”

“You’re not even fine now.”

“Okay...” he huffed, looking away. 

After a few minutes of silence, their hands eventually found each other as they always did. Ryuji kept thinking about what life would be like without Ann, and his hands began to grow sweaty. That’s when he truly realized his feelings. 

“Hey, Ann...” Ryuji breathed out, turning to look at her. “Look at me.” 

“Yeah?” she asked, turning to look at him as well. “What is it?” 

He almost psyched himself out. He was one second away from letting go of her hand and darting out of his bedroom to hide in his bathroom and claim that he was sick until she decided to leave. 

But sometimes in life you had to take risks. That’s what it was like being a Phantom Thief. 

Ryuji slowly leaned forward, their noses touching and his unoccupied hand resting against her waist. 

“R-Ryuji,” she squeaked out, her cheeks turning pink. “What are you-“

Before she could finish her question, Ryuji closed the space between them by slotting their lips together like a puzzle that had been waiting to be finished for centuries. It wasn’t rough, wild, or uncontrolled. It was gentle and loving. 

He let go of her hand to reach up and gently rest his own hand against her cheek, lightly stroking it with his thumb as they continued to move their lips together in perfect rhythm. 

Ann had tensed up at first, but eventually relaxed and leaned into the kiss, her hand resting against his arm. Neither of them had wanted to pull away, but they were both running out of air, so they had to. 

They separated their lips but kept their foreheads against each other’s, their eyes still closed in the aftermath. 

“Woah...” Ryuji whispered in awe.

“Woah,” Ann replied. 

Ryuji smiled and pulled back from her to see the look on her face. He had honestly expected her to shove him off and yell at him for being a pervert or something, but no. She had stayed, and it seemed like she actually enjoyed every bit of it. 

“Come here,” Ryuji mumbled, getting off of the ground and climbing under the covers on his bed. He patted the spot next to him for her to join. 

Ann was hesitant, not knowing what was really going on here, but it seemed innocent, so she slipped under the covers as well and faced him. 

Ryuji smiled even wider as she joined him and reached over to tug her closer by her waist. He ended up with both of his arms around her shoulders and her hands wrapped around his torso with her face pressed into his neck. 

“I couldn’t live without you, Ann. You’re right,” he told her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. 

“I couldn’t live without you either, Ryuji.” 

The two of them ended up falling asleep, and they both woke up in the morning to multiple texts from their Phantom Thieves group chat. They had a meeting to go to. 

“Let’s go,” Ann yawned, sitting up on the bed and dangling her feet over the edge of his bed. “It seems important.”

“Wait,” Ryuji said, crawling over next to her and grabbing onto her hand. “Can I ask something?” 

“Yeah, of course,” she told him, squeezing his hand and nodding. “What is it?” 

“Will you, uh...” Ryuji mumbles, looking at the ground in embarrassment. “Bemygirlfriend?” 

Ann heard everything clearly and felt a huge grin appear on her face. “What was that again? I couldn’t seem to hear you.”

“Oh, come on, Ann!” he whined. “Don’t make me say it again.”

“Say what again? I don’t even know what you said,” she teased, poking his cheek like he always did to her when they were younger. 

“Fine...” Ryuji groaned. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

“Duh, silly,” she replied, pressing a kiss to his cheek before letting go of his hand and standing up to get ready and walk out the door. “Did you even have to ask?” 

As she walked out of his house, Ryuji stumbled out behind her and begged her to wait up, explaining how it was basic chivalry for him to ask her rather than to just assume they were just together. She wholeheartedly agreed, but she just wanted to make him suffer.


End file.
